Baluster jackets



Oct. 14, 1969 BAYLIN 3,472,489

BALUSTER JACKETS Filed June 5, 1968 Inventor Attorney United States Patent US. Cl. 256-22 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A baluster jacket consisting of a pair of connectible and overlapping, interlocking, angular sections for easy application to or detachment from a rectangular baluster for embellishing the same.

This invention relates to baluster jackets designed to be used in the construction of architectural railings and the like.

Balusters constructed of wood have been used for many years, and these have been shaped by planing or turning and balusters so formed may be carved or otherwise embellished to impart aesthetic value to the railing constituted by the assembly of such balusters. These wooden railings are exposed to changing temperatures and humidity in the building in which they are installed and this change of atmospheric conditions has a detrimental effect on wood causing extension and construction not infrequently resulting in fracture, breakage or warping. Further, wooden balusters require to be periodically painted, varnished or polished, otherwise their surfaces become dulled or discolored and lose their fresh and pleasing appearance, and such maintenance is expensive.

With the extrusion of aluminum and other like metals, railings have been constructed of metal balusters and while the assembly of such balusters in rail formation may meet the requirements of daily use, the upkeep of such railings is quite heavy and in many cases the railings lack aesthetic lustre and appeal.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide jackets which may be applied to or mounted on metallic balusters in sectional form thereby enhancing the appearance of the assembled railings.

A further object of the invention is to provide a baluster jacket formed of readily separable sections, formable in a variety of materials, shapes and designs and easily and quickly applicable to and detachable from the baluster.

A further object of the invention is to provide connecting means for sectional jacket members so that when mounted on the balusters the jacket sections are interlocked and cannot be inadvertently or accidentally detached but will remain rigidly mounted on the baluster under all normal conditions of usage.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel and attractive sectional jacket for a baluster that is characterized by structural simplicity, durability and reasonable cost of production, whereby the same is rendered commercially desirable.

To the accomplishment of these and related objects as shall become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as shall be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

The invention will be best understood and can be more clearly described when reference is bad to the drawings ice forming a part of this disclosure wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

1 In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a railing embodying jacketed balusters;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a rectangular baluster with a jacket thereon; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged horizontal cross section as taken on line 33 of FIGURE 2, showing the manner in which the jacket members interlock.

In the drawings like characters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

Referring to the drawings A represents a baluster for an assembled railing and while I have shown such baluster in square or rectangular cross section, other forms of balusters may be used which are polygonal in cross section.

The balusters A are preferably formed of extruded material such as aluminum and its alloys and there are many such alloys which are strong and durable and resistable to corrosion and moreover aluminum is a metal which permits of the anodizing of the exposed faces of the balusters so that the large variety of colours available may be used to harmonize with the surroundings in which the balusters are assembled into a railing.

The jacket B is also formed from extruded metal assuring the conformity of size and shape which are required in jacketing balusters of the railing.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated the jacket is relatively long and is formed of the interengaging members 10 and 11 which are of angle shape in cross section, so that when two such angle members 10 and 11 are assembled they form a channel which embraces three sides of the baluster A, the fourth side of the baluster being exposed, and the exposed face of this side of the baluster may be anodized so that the colour scheme of the balusters and jackets will harmonize, and the outer face of the angle members may if desired be highly polished.

The member 10 of the jacket B is angular in cross section throughout its entire length and the longer arm 12 of the member 10 is offset inwardly towards the baluster A and terminates in an inturned wedge shaped flange on gripping edge 13 which will co-act with an adjacent side of the baluster A. The shorter arm 14 of the angle member 10 overlies one face of the baluster A and the under face of the shorter arm 14 is undercut forming a longitudinal recess at the junction of the longer arm 12 and the shorter arm 14, as shown at 15.

The under face of the shorter arm 14 is formed with a downwardly disposed arcuate or convex ridge 16 which functions as part of an interlocking cam, as will be described in detail hereafter.

The angular member 11 is provided at the lower end of the main or longer arm 17 with an inwardly disposed offset flange edge 18 which extends the full length of the angle member and is wedge shaped with the point inwardly disposed to coact with an under face of the baluster A.

The shorter arm 19 of the angle member 11 is formed with an angularly disposed lip 20 which co-acts with the undercut recess 15 of the angle member 10, and the upper face of the shorter arm 19 is formed with a concave recess 21 which is complementary to and designed to receive the convex ridge 16 on the under face of the shorter arm 14 of the angle member 10. The upper face of the shorter arm 19 of the member 12 is stepped, as shown at 22 so that when the two angle members 10 and 11 of the jacket are in assembled relation on the baluster A, a rectangular groove extends along the medial longitudinal line of the jacket B.

In the stepped portion 22 of the shorter arm 19 of the angle member 11, I provide a plurality of spaced threaded orifices 24 with which studs 25 make threaded engagement and when these studs are tightened into position the point of the studs will co-act with the underlying face of the baluster A. The pressure applied by the studs 25 on the underlying face of the baluster A spaces the shorter arm of the angle member 11 from the underlying face of the baluster so that the offset wedge shape flange 18 will engage the marginal edge of the uncovered face of the baluster A.

This tightening of the studs 25 raises the free end of the shorter arm 19 of the member 11 causing the concave cam surface 21 into engagement with the convex cam surface 16 of the member 10 of the jacket B and the point 20 of the arm 19 interlocks with the recess 15 on the under face of the short arm of the angle member 10.

In this way the wedge shaped flange 13 on the lower end of the longer arm 12 of the angle member 10 will likewise engage the marginal edge of the underlying face of the baluster A so that the jacket B is held in rigidly tight engagement with the baluster and cannot be removed therefrom unless such removal is intentional.

What is claimed as new is:

1. For a rectangular baluster, a jacket comprising two angular members, each having a first main arm with an inturned flange on its free end and a second arm at right angles thereto; said first main arms being of approximately equal length; and said second arms being overlapped in interlocking relation, one of said second arms being a long inner arm and the other being a short outer arm; and a stud threaded through the long inner second arm at a point beyond the end of the short outer second arm; said stud serving to secure the angular member having the long inner second arm to a baluster and to cause the overlapped end of such long inner second arm to coact with the overlapped end of the short outer second arm of the second angular member and thereby in turn secure it in place.

2. A baluster jacket, according to claim 1, wherein the confronting faces of said overlapped, interlocking second arms are configurated with a concave recess and a companion arcuate convex ridge on the long inner and short outer arms respectively.

3. A baluster jacket, according to claim 1, wherein said long inner second arm is stepped inwardly to provide in conjunction with the end of the short outer second arm a rectangular groove in which said stud is recessed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 752,996 2/1904 NissensOn 248-228 X 1,411,234 3/1922 Butler 248-228 1,579,136 3/1926 Paxson. 2,904,314 9/1959 Thom 256-21 X 2,969,955 1/1961 Newman -2 256-21 3,077,923 2/1963 Hatcher 248-228 X FOREIGN PATENTS 746,635 3/1956 Great Britain.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 256-59 

